Kitschies
The Kitschies are literary prizes presented annually for works of speculative fiction (such as science fiction and fantasy) that were published in the United Kingdom in the year of the award. [1]
Awards and criteria
The Kitschies are administered by a non-profit association with the stated mission of "encouraging and elevating the tone of the discussion of genre literature in its many forms".[2] The founders, Anne C. Perry and Jared Shurin said that they sought to bring attention to works with a fantastic or speculative element that are progressive in terms of content and composition.[1]
The award is a juried prize that selects those books which "best elevate the tone of genre literature". Qualifying books must contain "an element of the fantastic or speculative" and have been published in the UK.[3] Winners receive a sum of prize money and a textile tentacle trophy.[1]
The Kitschies are governed by an advisory board of members and an award director, Glen Mehn. The Kitschies were initially established in 2009 by the website pornokitsch.com. The Kraken Rum was the sponsor between 2010 and 2013. The current sponsor (since 2014) is Fallen London (a creation of UK game developer Failbetter Games).
As of 2015, the Kitschies are awarded in four categories:
- Red Tentacle for the best novel (£1,000, since 2009)
- Golden Tentacle for the best debut novel (£500, since 2010)
- Inky Tentacle for the best cover art (£500, since 2011)
- Invisible Tentacle for the best natively digital fiction (since 2014)
- Black Tentacle; awarded at the judges' discretion (since 2010)
Jury
The judging panels change annually.
- 2011
- Literary judges: Perry, Shurin, Lauren Beukes and Rebecca Levene
- Art judges: Hayley Campbell, Craig Kennedy, Catherine Hemelryk and Darren Banks
- 2012
- Literary judges: Shurin, Levene and Patrick Ness
- Art judges: Lauren O'Farrell, Gary Northfield and Ed Warren
- 2013
- Literary judges: Nick Harkaway, Kate Griffin, Will Hill, Anab Jain and Annabelle Wright
- Art judges: Hazel Thompson, Sarah Anne Langton, Emma Vieceli and Craig Kennedy.
- 2014
- Literary judges: Kate Griffin, Adam Roberts, Kim Curran, Frances Hardinge and Glen Mehn
Recipients
Red Tentacle (best novel)
- 2014
- Winner: [4]Grasshopper Jungle by Andrew Smith
- Finalists:[5]
- Lagoon by Nnedi Okorafor
- The Peripheral by William Gibson
- The Way Inn by Will Wiles
- The Race by Nina Allan
- 2013
- Winner: A Tale for the Time Being by Ruth Ozeki[6]
- Finalists:[7]
- Red Doc> by Anne Carson
- Bleeding Edge by Thomas Pynchon
- More Than This by Patrick Ness
- The Machine by James Smythe
- 2012
- Winner: Angelmaker by Nick Harkaway[8]
- Finalists:[9]
- The Folly of the World by Jesse Bullington
- A Face Like Glass by Frances Hardinge
- Jack Glass by Adam Roberts
- The Method by Juli Zeh
- 2011
- Winner: A Monster Calls by Patrick Ness and Siobhan Dowd[10]
- Finalists:[3][11]
- The Enterprise of Death by Jesse Bullington
- Embassytown by China Miéville
- The Testament of Jessie Lamb by Jane Rogers
- Osama: A Novel by Lavie Tidhar
- 2010
- Winner: Zoo City by Lauren Beukes[12]
- Shortlisted:[12]
- Children's Crusade by Scott Andrews
- Kraken by China Miéville
- The Folding Knife by K. J. Parker
- Aurorarama by Jean-Christophe Valtat
- 2009
- Winner: The City & the City by China Miéville[13]
- Shortlisted:
- Best Served Cold by Joe Abercrombie
- Pride and Prejudice and Zombies by Jane Austen and Seth Grahame-Smith
- The Magicians by Lev Grossman
- The Selected Works of T.S. Spivet by Reif Larsen
Golden Tentacle (best debut novel)
- 2014
- The Girl in the Road by Monica Byrne
- Memory of Water by Emmi Itäranta
- The Long Way to a Small, Angry Planet by Becky Chambers
- The People in the Trees by Hanya Yanagihara
- 2013
- Winner:Ancillary Justice by Ann Leckie[6]
- Finalists:[7]
- Stray by Monica Hesse
- A Calculated Life by Anne Charnock
- Nexus by Ramez Naam
- Mr. Penumbra’s 24-Hour Bookstore by Robin Sloan
- 2012
- Winner: Redemption in Indigo by Karen Lord[8]
- Finalists:[9]
- vN by Madeline Ashby
- Panopticon by Jenni Fagan
- Seraphina by Rachel Hartman
- The City's Son by Tom Pollock
- 2011
- Winner:God's War by Kameron Hurley[10]
- Finalists:[3][11]
- Among Thieves by Douglas Hulick
- The Night Circus by Erin Morgenstern
- Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children by Ransom Riggs
- The Samaritan by Fred Venturini
- 2010
- King Maker by Maurice Broaddus[12]
Inky Tentacle (best cover art)
- 2014
- Winner:[4] Tigerman by Nick Harkaway, cover by Glenn O’Neill
- Finalists:[5]
- The Ghost of the Mary Celeste by Valerie Martin, design by Steve Marking
- A Man Lies Dreaming by Lavie Tidhar, cover by Ben Summers
- Through the Woods by Emily Carroll, cover by Emily Carroll and Sonja Chaghatzbanian
- The Book of Strange New Things by Michel Faber, cover by Rafaela Romaya and Yehring Tong
- 2013
- Winner: The Age Atomic by Adam Christopher; art by Will Staehle[6]
- Finalists:[7]
- Dreams and Shadows by C. Robert Cargill; design and illustration by Sinem Erkas
- Homeland and Pirate Cinema by Cory Doctorow; design by Amazing15
- Stray by Monica Hesse; art by Gianmarco Magnani
- Apocalypse Now Now by Charlie Human; art by Joey Hi-Fi
- 2012
- The Teleportation Accident by Ned Beauman; design by La Boca
- The Terrible Thing That Happened to Barnaby Brocket by John Boyne; illustration by Oliver Jeffers
- Costume Not Included by Matthew Hughes; illustration by Tom Gauld
- Flame Alphabet by Ben Marcus; design by Peter Mendelsund
- 2011
- Winner:The Last Werewolf by Glen Duncan; design by Peter Mendelsund[10]
- Finalists:[3][11]
- Rivers of London by Ben Aaronovitch; illustration by Stephen Walter, design by Patrick Knowles
- The Prague Cemetery by Umberto Eco; design by Suzanne Dean, illustration by John Spencer
- Equations of Life by Simon Morden; design by Lauren Panepinto
- A Monster Calls by Patrick Ness and Siobhan Dowd; illustration by Jim Kay
Invisible Tentacle (best natively digital fiction)
- 2014
- Winner: [4]Kentucky Route Zero Act III, video game by Cardboard Computer
- Finalists:[5]
Black Tentacle (discretionary)
- 2014: Sarah McIntyre, author and illustrator [4]
- 2013: Malorie Blackman, British writer, Children's Laureate for 2013, for "outstanding achievement in encouraging and elevating the conversation around genre literature"[14]
- 2012: Lavie Tidhar for the World SF Blog, a website showcasing international speculative fiction[8]
- 2011: SelfMadeHero, comics publisher[10]
- 2010: Memory, novel by Donald Westlake[12]
References
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 Barnett, David (13 January 2012). "The Kitschie awards have their Tentacles in the best genre fiction". The Guardian Books Blog. Retrieved 13 January 2012.
- ↑ "The Kitschies". Retrieved 17 February 2015.
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 3.2 3.3 "The Kitschies: 2011 Finalists". Pornokitsch.com. 13 January 2012. Retrieved 13 January 2012.
- ↑ 4.0 4.1 4.2 4.3 4.4 ""Kitschie awards judge overpowered by six-foot praying mantises!". Guardian. 10 March 2015. Retrieved 10 March 2015.
- ↑ 5.0 5.1 5.2 5.3 "Announcing The Kitschies’ 2014 Shortlists!". Tor.com. 13 February 2015. Retrieved 13 February 2015.
- ↑ 6.0 6.1 6.2 "THE KITSCHIES: CONGRATULATIONS & THANK YOU". Pornokitsch. 13 February 2014. Retrieved 14 February 2014.
- ↑ 7.0 7.1 7.2 "Announcing the Shortlists for The Kitschies!". Tor.com. 23 January 2014. Retrieved 23 January 2014.
- ↑ 8.0 8.1 8.2 8.3 Alison Flood (27 February 2013). "Nick Harkaway takes Kitschies Red Tentacle award". The Guardian. Retrieved February 27, 2013.
- ↑ 9.0 9.1 9.2 "The 2012 Kitschies, presented by The Kraken Rum". 18 January 2013. Retrieved 18 January 2013.
- ↑ 10.0 10.1 10.2 10.3 "The 2011 Kitschies, presented by The Kraken Rum". 4 February 2012. Retrieved 4 February 2012.
- ↑ 11.0 11.1 11.2 Jordan Farley (January 13, 2012). "Finalists announced for The Kitschies 2011". SFX. Retrieved January 19, 2013.
- ↑ 12.0 12.1 12.2 12.3 "2010". The Kitschies. Retrieved 13 January 2012.
- ↑ "2009". The Kitschies. Retrieved 13 January 2012.
- ↑ Flood, Alison (13 February 2014). "Ruth Ozeki beats Thomas Pynchon to top Kitschie award". The Guardian. Retrieved 14 February 2014.